Netflix’s latest Offering Kota Factory Season Two is yet another heartwarming and honest endeavor from the TVF Creations. It is basically a simple story of a few young boys and girls who have enrolled in different coaching institutes during their preparation for the IIT-JEE Examination. The life of the aspirants at Kota is seen through their prisms. And they have an amicable mentor in Jeetu Bhaiya played by the ever-lovable Jitendra Kumar who guides them through thick and thin. Even though the execution is not even close to perfection, it is an honest endeavor and deserves to be applauded for having its soul at the right place.
From a critical angle, one may find numerous loopholes in the making. The black and white texture has now been cliched. It was perfect in the first outing but in the second season, it looks forced and without any actual purpose. One may argue that this was deliberately done to portray the bleak life of the aspirants. But that idea was already a winning point of the first season. Here it is superfluous to the concept, tedious and repetitive.
There is no specific plot in the whole season. It just shows the lives of the aspirants in bits and pieces. There was no sincere effort to portray the actual hardship. The kids looked very much happy-go-lucky without any genuine family or relationship problems. It was just like showing a few days in their lives. Only their common issues like physical attraction, illness, masturbation, etc. were depicted. At times it tries to be Super-30, at times it aims to be 3 Idiots and by the time it actually endeavors to be itself, it is already too late. The climax is a saving grace to the otherwise slow-paced show.
On a positive note, the length of the show is less. It is spread across only five episodes, each of around forty minutes duration. The acting by the key characters is natural. Alam Khan as the vivacious, light-hearted Uday Gupta is a show stealer and he genuinely has bright prospects ahead. Jitendra Kumar as always is restrained and delivers a nuanced performance. The only thing, he is already becoming stereotypical in his role selection. His mannerism, dialogue delivery everything is now predictable. The music of the show is forgettable, background scores are underwhelming and the sets at times look unoriginal.
Even though it has so many loopholes in the technical aspects, it may be viewed once for its honesty in intention and approach. Do not expect much from the show. In no way it is something very bad, but then it is not too good either.
My rating- 6 out of 10
Available on – Netflix
